Stories

Dear Paul,
I am so happy that you keep the updates going. Dan and Maureen share the videos and pics of the kids and it delights me to see how they are growing up beautifully. I think of you all so often and hold you in my meditations.
Jane

I (Erin – Jamie’s hand on my shoulder in the below picture) have spent quite some time compiling my memories of Jamie. Early on I wanted to make sure I shared everything. Silly, I know, especially because there’s much that I’ve left out. I have so many special memories of Jamie. It’s an honor to share those memories and what her friendship meant to me.

Jamie and I developed a friendship our freshman year at Conestoga High School. My first “real” memory was during pre-season for soccer that year. We were sitting alone on the concrete, surrounded by everyone’s equipment bags, putting on our cleats. Jamie pulled her strings very tight, checked to make sure no one could hear her, leaned towards me, grinned and said, “I think we made varsity!” Sure enough, we did ;). We were the only ones from our class to make ‘Stoga’s varsity soccer team our freshman, sophomore and junior year. We formed a special bond.

The day we got our uniforms. J sat next to me, “I hope no one already has #1. I reeeeeally hope no one has #1”. We went in to choose our uniforms by class, making Jamie and me the last to go. She held my arm and strained to see what number each player before us came out holding. When a teammate walked by us she would ask, “What number are you? Did anyone take 1?” She did quite the happy dance when she found her official ‘Stoga uniform with a big old “1” on the back waiting for her on the gym floor Continue Reading →

(Picture from left to right – Kathryn, Maureen, Erik, Kristina, Jamie, Delphine, Doug)

When I checked my mail today I was so pleased to see there was a letter from you Dan; I realised that we had lost contact for such a long time and I was so glad to get news from you and your family after all the good moments we had all spent together when I was younger!

But reading your letter was so painful to me. It came as such a shock to learn the news about Jamie; I can still recall the day when I arrived as your babysitter for Jamie, Doug and Kathryn, at Pelham Manor, back in the summer of 1986, I was just 15 and Jamie was around 8; we just got on so well from the very start, it never felt like working, all the time I was with the 5 of you; I just felt I was with family, looking after my younger brother and sisters! You were all so kind to me and the times I spent with you have marked me forever (maybe that’s why I now teach English to high school students, and am currently trying to start a project with New-Yorkers so I can help my students discover the world, like I did when I was their age….).

Well Jamie was so lively and cheerful; it was always so much fun being with her, I have kept such a dear memory of her! I have taken out the pictures I have kept of that time and so many good memories with Jamie are coming back to me (like sailing off the New York coast, skiing and freezing on the Vermont hills that Christmas you had invited me over, fooling around and diving in the pool, playing Trivial Pursuit at the Babbits’, watching Dirty Dancing over and over again and so many more…)! She was a great friend to me!

I’m sure she must have been the best of moms too and I would really have loved to meet her again, both as adults! From all the nice things I could read about her on her memorial website, I feel there would have been so much we could have shared, so many things we had in common…. It was just so moving to read about her married life with you Paul and seeing all the pictures of your lovely family; being on your website has greatly helped me to cope with the news, thanks for sharing that with me! I feel so close to you right now and truly hope that I can meet you all one of these days; if I come back to the States, I’ll try to get in touch with you and see if you have a couple of hours to spare me…

Maureen, Dan, Doug, Kathryn, I would just be so happy to see you again and meet your respective families; my house is big enough to accommodate you if you can make it to France one of these days…

In the meanwhile, please keep in touch with me!
Love
Delphine

Hi there,

I found your site after I saw a notification on Facebook that some high school classmates were attending a run in Jamie’s honor. I hadn’t thought of her in ages but a quick google search brought me here. Let me first extend my condolences. I am so very sorry for your loss. I barely new Jamie. If you’d asked her I doubt she would have remembered my name. She was a few years ahead of me in school. At T/E she was a cool 8th grader and at Conestoga she was a popular senior. I knew of her more than anything. We met in photography class in the autumn of 1994. I was a sophomore girl who was just returning to school after having been treated for cancer for the past 18 mos. It was a scary time for me. Starting high school is tough enough and I was doing it a year later than the rest of my class and after a year and a half of chemo and radiation and surgeries. I remember coming back to school and finding friendships had changed and cliques had shifted. I’d known many of my classmates since nursery school and all of sudden they seemed like strangers. Anyway, that’s a bit of back story to explain how nervous I was fall semester that year. Photography was my elective and the only name I even recognized was Jamie’s. Oh I was terrified. The only person I vaguely knew was a super cool soccer and lacrosse playing senior girl. I don’t 100% remember how we started talking – I think maybe she had to have surgery on her knee or something, regardless we started talking. We chatted in class and she’d smile at me in the halls and was just her nice and kind bubbly self. I wish I had something more to say, some concrete memory to share. She was just being herself and that meant so much to a shy, scared and slightly out of place me. I’ve always remembered that.

My best to all of the O’Briens and Kindems,
Ryan Carlton, Conestoga Class of 1997.
Ryan.carlton@gmail.com

When I think of Jamie I remember a beautiful, bright, and curious young woman who had a spirit for adventure. I was a teacher in her world. At Conestoga she was an accomplished athlete and a top student. I didn’t influence her academic or athletic world. I shared my passion for travel and other cultures with my students by taking them to different parts of the world. Jamie joined my trip to Greece and it is in this experience that we became friends.

Like a little kid in a candy store, Jamie absorbed the museums of ancient Greece and walked the Acropolis. She wasn’t just there for the sun and the cruise. Jamie enjoyed learning. One night I took the students to a garden for dinner and live music. As we sat and listened to the Greek music, people gathered in a circle on the stage. They created a wild circling motion and their feet moved quickly to match the instrumental beats. I shouted out to the students “Come on, I didn’t bring you here to sit and watch. Let’s dance!” The students sat timidly ignoring me. I joined the circle and next to me was Jamie O’Brien with her big smile. We danced wildly and laughed until we were exhausted and had to take a rest. She said ” You’re crazy , Mrs. Barry.” And I responded, “But , isn’t it fun?” We laughed and danced. She wasn’t afraid to put herself out there. She enjoyed the adventure. Her eyes always spoke for her.
During the day we were surrounded by the sea as we gazed from cliffs. She loved the sea. I gave the students some time on the beach. I can still see Jamie’s bronze shimmering skin as she splashed in the water. She was like a mermaid. Continue Reading →

As the anniversary of Jamie’s passing approaches, my heart continues to become heavier and heavier with grief. In remembrance, I reflect on Jamie and I’s last full work week together and it brings warmth in my heart and a smile to my face.

Jamie’s last full work week was her best ever at SAS! Hmm, you may ask yourself “how can that be?” Well for starters, our boss was out the entire week on vacation, which meant we could come and go as we pleased.

Jamie didn’t have to rush in dropping off “The Adorables” and make it to work by 8:30am. Instead, she enjoyed her ride to school and work, stopped and picked up breakfast in Building C (egg white omelette) and casually walked into the office before 9am. Some days, she even had a Starbucks’ concoction in tow. Of course, the barista knew her order! Continue Reading →

She was a girl of Air and Fire
Of love and smiles and great Desire
I caught her on her way Uphill
Seeking dreams she would fulfill.

She had a ways to go she said,
She’d stop and stay awhile instead.
And for three years we laughed and sighed
“Where are my dreams?” she often cried.

Then off she flew from Coast to Coast
“To find my dreams!” she’d loudly boast.
To find the Path so right and true
To set her life aright, Anew.

And there he stood, her man of choice
To help her find her One True Voice.
Along came twins, so sweet and small
To fill the home with dearest Paul.

Then came another, with her Farewell
That angel whom we’d loved so well.
She left behind three babes so dear
To keep her dreams alive and near,

To show us all some hope in sorrow
That she lives on in their tomorrow.
And though our hearts are broken still
We smile at all her dreams fulfilled.

She’s only just a thought away
A memory of a sweeter day,
When Jamie Girl would laugh and dance,
And tilt her head and give a glance

Then rest her head upon our heart
To kiss our tears and then depart.
So, now and then I feel her wings
An angel’s song she often sings:

“Expand your life, your dreams and songs,
And find out where your heart belongs!
Be fearless in your deep Desire
And let yourself be Air and Fire!”

Love, Kennette and Barry